BREAKING: GCSB no to Huawei is the first shot in NZ vs China confrontation

By
Martyn Bradbury
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72
21

For those paying attention, the announcement that the GCSB have declined Spark’s desire to use Huawei to roll out 5G should surprise no one while also ratcheting up the chance of real conflict between NZ and China…

…the tensions building between China & NZ occurred immediately after the new Government came to power. While there is Chinese money inside Labour, it’s no where as compromised as National and the new Governments plan to end foreign investment in the domestic housing market was a direct threat to Chinese soft power interests.

China hadbought the National Party, and by placing all our cows in one Beijing paddock, we are economically beholden to their wider interests in the Pacific. (Note how Winston’s first move in power was to offer dairy exports to Russia? They would be the default market should China ever pull the plug on our exports).

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The GCSB will have turned the deal between Spark & Huawei down because under the TICS Legislation, every network has to hand over back door codes that enables 5 Eye mass surveillance. There’s no way Huawei would have allowed their systems to be hacked by 5 Eyes, so without that access, the intelligence agencies can turn down a commercial deal.

This happens at a time of rising tensions in the Pacific and there have been questions by the other 4 members of 5 Eyes that NZ has been compromised by Chinese interests.

At the point of this mounting friction and questioning of our independence, the NZ intelligence agencies have made a solid step towards ensuring only America and their NZ franchise holders get to do mass surveillance in the Land of the Wrong White Cloud.

This is a first shot in friction points between NZ & China, this is a clear push back by NZ in terms of cyber sovereignty. Sure that push back is hypocrisy of the highest because we handed that level of control over to the NSA  without blinking, but push back it is.

How China reacts will be telling and could be a further provocative pressure point in the Pacific.

China could suddenly cut trade ties, or it could use Chinese language newspapers to enflame protest and destabilise things politically and socially. Will they ignore provocation like this?

If they did would that be seen as a sign of weakness to America? Would China risk doing nothing to look weak in America’s eyes?

This decision is an enormous escalation, we should collectively hold our breath as the response is considered.

PS At some point NZ is going to need to discuss this in a lot more detail…

72 COMMENTS

  1. NZ should be out of 5 Eyes forthwith, and pursue a genuine independent foreign policy befitting a small nation, and doing mutually beneficial bilateral trade arrangements with no ISDS attached

    those that will no doubt cheer about this particular approach to China, will likely be silent about US Imperialism, because that is often their agenda–they are pro the US Military and Corporate agenda

    • @ TIGER MOUNTAIN re “those that will no doubt cheer about this particular approach to China, will likely be silent about US Imperialism, because that is often their agenda–they are pro the US Military and Corporate agenda ”

      nah …those who are most concerned about US Imperialism, Militarism and Corporatism are also those who are concerned about Chinese Imperialism

      …and the buy up of New Zealand’s and New Zealanders’ strategic assets:- land, infrastructure , transport systems , housing, political parties , population density and composition, and cultural dominance etc etc…as well as military and economic strategic location assets…ports, oceans, powers of influence to places like Antarctica

      ….Imperialism takes different forms

      …. the question is which Imperialism do you think is the worst for New Zealand and New Zealanders if you have to choose

      ….China does not have a good human rights record…especially for women and indigenous groups and dissidents

  2. Don’t you just love the GCSB’S use of euphemisms? They “declined” Spark’s request. Not REJECTED. As if the GCSB was politely declining a dinner invite to a Young Nat’s party fundraiser (free booze – send your daughters).

  3. “Chance of real conflict” “NZ v China confrontation” “ a first shot”
    Calm down fella.
    But isn’t it nice to finally see a government agency making a statement that is actually in the national interest? How long has it been?

    • It’s impossible to suplement of get inbehind Chinese land bases in and around Sovereign New Zealand territory when NZDF is one third underweight or a billion dollars per year underfunded. Impossible, makes me hoha.

    • But isn’t it nice to finally see a government agency making a statement that is actually in the national interest?

      Are you sure it’s not more truthfully described as being in USA’s hegemonic interest?

      USA or China, it’s now hard to say which is worse. We’ll bow and scrape to one or the other.

      • Yeah. I know hard choice aye? Except How many countries has China actively ‘played’ war with and destroyed? How many countries does China now have bases in? How many countries is China stationed in without the permission of that country’s government? how many wars has China invited us in to fight for freedom or some other BS? Be interesting to find out.

        • Chinese poverty rate
          1981 = 88%
          2012 = 6%

          With over a billion people, half of which being middle class, thus China requires modern infrastructure and every where. Since 2012 every Chinese deplomate has mad it clear that they desire food security, energy security and security in general.

          Where New Zealand is weak Chinese interests advances, where New Zealand is strong Chinese interests retreat. New Zealand can not provide that full range of security with in our area of interest with capabilities of our own with a massive misunderstanding of NZDF and a public easily deluded by media about defence issues.

          Just feeding 1.4 billion people is a massive undertaking. The next closet India and Brazil does terribly at it yet some how this bit is ignored and disregarded because not only does China require massive amounts of resources but they’re willing to pay good money for it and they’ve got a strong green streak. I mean how many jackpots do you guys want.

          From my point of view Chinese interests have played by the rules since 1981 and they do not deserve to be punished for it.

    • +100 KEEPCALMCARRYON

      re “But isn’t it nice to finally see a government agency making a statement that is actually in the national interest? How long has it been?”

      • 2008 New Zealand was the Largest trade partner with China by dollar value. Today we aren’t even in the top 10. If there’s any silver linings then there wouldn’t be any Chinese land bases in our area.

  4. Shame, Huawei are an awesome company, love their products. They would have done an excellent job building out the 5G network. I guess we just prefer having the Southern Cross Cable hacked (“harpooned”) by America and our meta data sucked up by Western interests.

    When will China get a turn to ride the taniwha? Just encrypt the whole internet using onion routing! The whole cyber stalking thing is getting old.

    • You forget that at some point the ‘internet’ as you put it needs to be decrypted or ‘opened’.
      The GCSB stated that the Huawei equipment was not an option to be used here because it had ‘significant security issues’.
      Those issues are simply that Huawei have back-doors built into a large percentage of their products too allow the chinese governent to snoop on anything they wish.
      No amount of encrypting the ‘internet’ will stop that because the access points where they intercept will all be cleartext.

  6. When China will sneeze, NZ Inc will freeze.

    Wait for the new economic giant to flex its economic and strategic muscle, little NZ Inc and bigger brother Australia will soon see a swift end to their economic stability and growth, so far so much fed by trade with China.

    Trump will simply rely on us to dance to his tune, but it will not reward us economically, he just expects this of us.

    And China is already angry, they appear to be behind attempts to get rid of an inconvenient professor, who criticises the large Mighty Middle Power up there in East and Central Asia.

    That is just the tiny beginning.

    Sleepy Hobbits are kept in a slumber by endless brainwashing and consumerist drug addiction. Dealing with crisis is something the bulk of Kiwis have never learned, and it will scare the living daylights out of many.

    And this country does not even have much of an army, navy and no real airforce, hence cannot even defend itself from an invasion by a smallish developing country, should this ever be anticipated.

    A huge joke this is, NZ Inc is for sale and soon will be open for a fire sale, as it must all go, the people who can will want to leave in droves, to escape before the shit really hits the fan.

  7. No To Foreign Imperialism what ever its shape, close the borders, stock pile the food and water, stand bye to repeal boarders

  8. Everything that KiwiRail buys from China since 2008 goes through Pacific Power Developments Ltd (NZ). That includes locomotives, wagons, traction motors, turnouts, sleepers, and bridge spans. PPD is owned by Walter Huang whose father is a high up official in the Chinese government. PPD is the official Chinese Agent to export railway technology to NZ. Walter Huang determines which Chinese company can export railway items to NZ.

    There needs to be a truly independent (not by KiwiRail) review of the quality of Chinese made railway products going back to 2008, and then ask why has it been going on in this manner for so long jeopardising the safety and economy of Kiwi’s.

    • Yes, and everything that KiwiFail buys from china is absolute junk – bought on price alone, never on features or quality.
      Were you aware that the engines used the DL locos are not designed for widely varying rev ranges? They were designed to be operated at fixed rotational speed.
      Yet another flaw with these awful things.
      Just add it to the long list of problems they’ve already identified (and are still having).
      The sooner Aunty Jacinda puts a stop to this nonsense of bowing to china and taking their sh*t the better.

      • I see the buses on a regular basis replacing the imported rubbish not fit for purpose trains in the hutt valley from overseas when the gnats shut down our workshop in Dunedin crippling our manufacturing capacity.

        • That was a strategic move. They said “we have to close it down because there isn’t enough work”. There wasn’t enough work because they were sending it all overseas. The workshops get closed down, then they can say “We need to buy our locos and rolling stock in from overseas because we can’t manufacture them here due to not having workshops any more!”
          Shonkey Donkey was bowing to the chinese and told Kiwifail to buy their rubbish because it was “important for the country strategically and financially.”
          Yes – the money that should have gone into the pockets of hard-working Kiwis went offshore and filled the coffers of the chinese government.
          Having said that, the Wellington trains (which I rode for the first time last week!) aren’t made in china – they’re made in South Korea and they’re actually very reliable. It’s the network, tracks and signalling which are letting the system down.
          Don’t panic though. Aunty Jacinda has earmarked $80 million to upgrade the rail network in the lower North Island so we should see some real improvements in the coming years.

  9. The first shot is that as a 5 eyes country we are demonstrating clearly that we are sticking with our buddies. Has no one noticed that Trump is firing bullets at China and the nasty anti China rhetoric is ramping up. So we have to show our support to our best friends. “Yes we are on your side dear friends!” And enter the professor who believes she has had her property interfered with by Chinese agents. No evidence just belief. I wonder when Martyn Bradbury is going to have the same thing happen to him. After all his anti-Chinese rhetoric has been going on for a while on this blog.

    • Well put WIN, methinks things are about to get interesting. Anybody who thinks uncle sam is going to let little old new zild replace chinese trade with trading with the evil russians needs to think again. It would seem that the proponents of the “who needs china” idea, quite prevalent on this blog are about to have there theories tested.
      But hey no worries i bet our bestest buddies in washington will pick up the trade slack???

    • The can take all their nasty crap and f*ck off back to china with it and peddle it to people over there instead of loading our landfills with it here.
      Better still we could set fire to it all and then the rest of the world wouldn’t have to suffer or deal with it either.
      I notice quite a few of these junk merchants are closing up.
      Good riddance to them – may they never return.
      It’s nothing more than a blight of our landscape.

  11. It’s that One-Way Good Faith scam, fake smiles with a cake-&-eat-it-too skitzoid betrayer nature of the Crime Syndicate that masquerades as our leadership that makes it so untrustworthy and aggravating, and the Chinese just got a big dose of that. Ultimately it’s “milk goes that way, and fuck you goes the other”, and permutations of that dynamic for all of us, due to, ye olde boyes basically snarling greedy opportunists on the game thinking they’re simply beyond ordinary standards, of anything. The most RESILIENT and ROBUST bullies you’ll ever know

  12. Relax! We are card carrying members of the U.S. Empire. We will always support whatever the U.S. does in its quest to continue its subjugation of the world. Yes, the economy of the U.S. is accelerating as it approaches the abyss.Export your manufacturing jobs and replace them with low paid and low technology replacements. Structure your economy so that the only growth sectors is the military Industrial complex[ 53%] and the Prison Industrial Complex [2.5 million inmates and counting].Let the banks control the Financial sector and eliminate the regulatory sector.That is the business plan that we in NZ are in step with.Plug into the surveillance sector. Oh, we have already done that with the 5 eyes.
    Support every insane accusation that the West makes towards Russia and China.The CIA is carrying out its customary brief in manufacturing false Flag incidents to brainwash the population of the West to become hostile to the only countries that can rival the U.S. in its obsession with hegemony.And wait for the BLOWBACK. It’s coming!!!

    • Yes the blowback is going to come eventually. In the middle east.

      Nuclear warfare in the end. Book of Revelations.

      However !

      Lets do as Winston suggests and trade with Russia. Big time. Now !!!,- there’s a solution that would mess with the apple-carts of both China and the USA. So much so that the USA just might see its troublesome smaller sibling as trading with those damn ‘Ruskies ‘ … their very rivals and that ,… just might open doors that the TTPA never could…

      … Especially if that smaller sibling is a crucial member for Uncle Sam regards the 5 eyes in gawking at the South Pacific and China itself.

      You gotta be smart and have your wits about you in today’s world,.. and it is ironic that the person with exactly those sorts of quality’s is our most senior politician , the Right Honorable Winston Peters…

      You don’t outsmart the Silver Fox.

  13. … [China could suddenly cut trade ties, or it could use Chinese language newspapers to enflame protest and destabilise things politically and socially. Will they ignore provocation like this? ]…

    ——————————-

    Was it NZ’s fault we chose to simply trade rather than have a foreign power try to slip in through the back door , exercise ulterior motives (soft power techniques )?. Was it NZ’s fault that the country in question chose to see this as an opportunity to expand their military / geopolitical interests and infiltrate our political processes and virtually ‘ buy’ their way into our democracy ?

    No.

    The only fault this country had besides self interested greedy political and business individuals who saw this as a bonanza and to aid keeping wages low and the cost of living high is that we as a country were / are stunningly naive and complacent.

    Its time for that to change.

    ——————————-

    … [ China had bought the National Party, and by placing all our cows in one Beijing paddock, we are economically beholden to their wider interests in the Pacific. (Note how Winston’s first move in power was to offer dairy exports to Russia? They would be the default market should China ever pull the plug on our exports) ] …

    ——————————

    And what if the Chinese did to decide to pull the plug?

    The only ones crying would be the business elite in this country. Yes, cheap tee shirts from China’s sweat shops would no longer be available, but Kiwi made and better standard goods would be available instead. Things that dont fall apart after 3 months. That would be nice.

    And surprise, surprise ! , – once again our own home grown industry’s that were wrecked by the free market would probably start to make a return. And so too employment. Anything niche would have to paid for accordingly. Like it was prior to the Roger Douglas free market treason’s era .So what.

    There are other places to trade than just China. And IF there are WATER and protein shortages are that much in short supply over there ,… then they can jolly well learn to pay the going rates and do it WITHOUT having any strings attached. Or complaining. Not to mention that China has one of the WORST human rights records on Earth. Do we really want to be pushed around like a doormat by a furtive shitter country like that ???

    Winston Peters is a wise and shrewd bird, and trading with Russia would help to offset the Americans NSA commitments, – it would certainly keep in check any of Uncle Sams aspirations for NZ to be just another small satellite state of the continental United States of America.

    And hence that way , – we gradually get our sense of self respect and independence back. We play them at their own fun and games. In other words, – ” You want it? – then you deal on our terms as well , and NOT exclusively yours”.

    NB; The globalist and the psychopathic , megalomaniac tendencies they exhibit are yours, mine and all nations worst enemy’s. Just look at so many sellouts in the National party and you will see what I mean. I would have included ACT but they are virtually extinct so don’t warrant closer examination.

  15. Don’t forget that RNZ’s Media Watch recently ran a program “China keeps the media in line” which was critical of the Chinese media policy and Chinese Government behaviour. The RNZ journalist who attended the conference was funded by the Asia New Zealand Foundation. This piece would not have been written without outside sponsorship.

  16. War isn’t going to start over slow internet but these are the times we live in:
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12169481
    We do have to decide who our friends are, I’m going to suggest it’s not those interning their own citizens in concentration camps or harvesting their organs or militarising the South China Sea.
    We have been indulged in our nuclear free years because the US could. Pacifism by us in the current climate is going to look increasingly like bludging.
    Time to get friendlier with the more benign (for us) empire. If you don’t think that’s America you are living in a fantasy land.

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